Witch Hunt
by Not-Always-Fanfiction
Summary: A demon calls out, tied to a cross, 'If you call this love black magic, then light the flames of hatred'. One-shot, inspired by song of the same title.


**Witch Hunt**

**saa mite goran kanashii ohanashi**

**saa hankachi no youi wasurezu ni**

**aru tokoro ni majo ga itasou na**

**aru ouji to koi wo shitasou na**

_Come, listen to this sad story_

_Come, don't forget to prepare a handkerchief_

_It seems that there was a witch in a land_

_and it seems that she fell in love with a prince_

Wings of the blackest night rose and fell, their ominous thumps echoing throughout the evening sunset. Supported by these dark appendages flew the largest of crows, a monstrous creature that was the harbinger of woe. It beak was wicked sharp, its claws large enough to grab small children, it's feathers matted and dirty. The sins of hell itself seemed to be wrapped within it's very being. But if one were to look within the great bird's eye, for it was nothing more than a bird, they would see nothing but the pain and sorrow of betrayal, and tears of regret streaming from the orbs of purest crimson.

The crow flew through the endless sky, which was a crimson red, as if scorched by the flames of a 'holy' fire. Eventually though, the crow fell from the heavens, its strength no longer able to keep with its sorrow. It landed within a clearing of trees, its body saved from brutal injury thanks to a net of seemingly dark energies. It was one of the weakest of spells, and it broke easily under its creators unstable control, letting the crow's limp form tumble the last few meters to the ground in a useless heap.

**toki wo tomeru mahou wasureru kurai no**

**shiawase na toki wa sugiteyuku**

_Let's forget about the magic that stops time_

_Now is a time of joy_

All too soon, the magic binding the crow to its form began to fall, molting away along with its disgusting plumage. The ebony beak, so suited to tearing throats from corpses, cracked and shattered, revealing a tear streaked face. Dagger-like claws, perfect for ripping flesh from bone, turned as if to dust, leaving behind bare, delicate legs, the pale skin marred by dirt and smoke. As the magic evaporated, returning to the aether from which it had come, the body of a young woman was left behind, looking no older than twenty years in age.

Her dirtied and pink hair was cut crudely short, as if someone had taken a knife and cut the locks near the base of her head. Her skin was dirtied and marred, the wrists and ankles swollen from where ropes had bound them. The only clothing she wore was a ragged tunic that hung limply off her pale shoulders. It was not a pretty thing, something that served no purpose but to cover a person's modesty, while still denoting their wearer's lack of value.

**juujika ni dakare sora aogu**

**Penitenziagite! Penitenziagite!**

**inori no koe nado kakikesare**

**Opus transit in otium**

**kono ai sae majutsu to yobu no nara**

**Penitenziagite! Penitenziagite!**

**nikushimi no honoo wo hanatsu ga ii**

**La mortz est super nos!**

_Held by the cross, I look up at the sky_

_Repent! Repent_

_Erase the voices of prayer_

_Dedication reduced to nothing_

_If you call this love black magic_

_Repent! Repent_

_then light the flames of hatred_

_Death is weighing upon us!_

The woman lay crouched upon the ground, tear forcing their way through her eyelids, shut tight as they were. Concealed beneath them were two candy pink orbs, the irises permanently changed from the taint of aether. Were she to channel her 'unholy' magic, they would turn as red as blood. Her chest heaved as her breaths fought against her sobs.

The woman's sorrowful cries rang out through the clearing, piercing any onlooker straight to the heart. They merely increased in intensity as memories of happier times flashed through her head. Sitting in the park, tutoring those two children on how to better sing. Walking through the market, buying groceries while gossiping with the shopkeepers. Strolling down the streets, her arms latched lovingly around _his._

It was all gone.

The children feared her, their once adoring eyes now filled with abject terror. The neighbors who had once gossiped so freely with her, sharing all the juiciest of rumors willingly, now condemned her a monster and a demon, their voices filled with fear and anger. Then there were _his_ eyes, the look of confusion, pain, and most heart-shattering of all, terror. They once been filled with warmth and compassion, gentle pools of love that she had foolishly believed would accept her. What a naïve fool she'd been. Just as stupid as they all were.

**saa mite goran moeru you na sora wo**

**saa wasureru na seigi no honoo wo**

_Come, take a look at the burning sky_

_Come, don't forget the flames of justice_

'Fools!' The thought rang throughout her mind, 'Idiots! Ignorant pigs! Mindless lemmings who would lose themselves in their own bloodlust!' She cursed them, cursed the ones who relentlessly feared and hated her kind. Too lost in their mindless worship of their god to even comprehend what was right before them. So dependent upon their 'Divine's' will that they wouldn't know how to feed themselves without guidance from the church.

It had always been this way, she had always known that. From the day she was born her mother had told her off how foolish those common peasants were. They saw something they didn't understand, and all they did was run and hide, claiming the phenomena they'd seen as evil and unholy.

**aru tokoro ni majo ga itasou na**

**aru ouji wo taburakashitasou na**

**miryou suru mahou ni torawareta mono no**

**shiawase na toki wa sugisarishi**

_It seems that there was a Witch in a land_

_and it seems that she deceived the prince_

_To those who were captured by her alluring magic_

_your times of joy are over_

It was all because of _her_, that girl who had been her close friend. Hah! 'Friend', as if such a kind word could be used to describe any of the spineless dogs. She should have known better, to have let herself get so close to one of the cloth. She had sensed the girl's strong ties to the aether, and had let her guard down. The child was so young, so vibrant, so full of _life,_ she would have woven the most spectacular of spells. It was such a waste, to shut her mind off in such a small part of the world, to devote herself in worship to a god who ruled through fear and terror.

And that spell, that 'holy weave' she had crafted, it was truly ingenious. Designed to seek out those who had crafted raw aether, it was truly a master piece for one so young. And it had done its job, it had sought out its target, what they called 'witches'. It had sought her out. And when she had been discovered, everyone immediately thought she was evil, having sold her soul to the devil.

All of the minor suspicious things she had done, things every person did, had immediately swept all else aside, and everyone assumed that she had bewitched them into liking her.

**juujika ni tsunagi akuma yobu**

**Penitenziagite! Penitenziagite!**

**ashiki jumon wo sakebu mae ni**

**Virtus migrat in vitium**

**kano tsumi naru majutsu ni shinpan wo**

**Nunc cuncta rerum debita**

**kono seinaru honoo wo hanatsu ga ii**

**Exorbitant a semita**

_A demon calls out, tied to a cross_

_Repent! Repent!_

_Before shouting its evil spell,_

_Virtue reduced to Vice_

_If you judge that crime of black magic_

_Now, everything is_

_Then light the sacred flames_

_She's lost her way_

What happened next was so obvious that even a child would have seen it coming. Within a day she had been tried, found guilty, and strung up on the cross. Everything she had said had been either disregarded or twisted by the so called 'court'. She wasn't that surprised really. They feared her kind, unable to understand the shear majesty that was the aether.

She had called out to them as she was tied to the cross, begged her neighbors, her students, her _friends_, to understand that they were making a mistake. They had merely condemned her further, shouts of 'Demon' and 'Monster' tearing from mouths that just that morning had been conversing happily with her. It had hurt, oh had it hurt. To have everyone she trusted, loved, _protected,_ turn upon her, the tears still hadn't stop.

**kaku munashiki hito no orokashisa**

**Penitenziagite! Penitenziagite!**

**ano yuuhi no aka wa moetsudzuke**

**La mortz est super nos!**

_The foolishness of empty-headed people_

_Repent! Repent!_

_That evening sun's red will continue to burn_

_Death is weighing upon us!_

The girl had begun to read form her bible, speaking the verses aloud as to bolster the peasants faith, blinding them to the terrible crime they were committing. Many had begun to chant along with her, letting the familiar, _holy,_ words wash off their tongues. None of them realized the spell they were casting, not even the girl. They had no idea that they were enchanting the wood at her feet, altering them so that the fires they gave birth to would truly hurt her. They were blissfully unaware as they chanting happily away.

'Monsters' she had called, fear and terror overriding her mind. 'Devilish fiends in the guises of humans,' she had called. It was all vein really and it only served to anger them, they chanted louder as a result. To them, this was a celebratory fire, and she was the suckled pig to be roasted upon it.

**toki wo tomeru mahou wasureru kurai no**

**shiawase na toki wa sugiteyuku**

_Let's forget about the magic that stops time_

_Now is a time of joy_

The shear joy they had felt was disgusting. To see such blissfully happy faces, praising her death had disgusted her. Truly, she had been a fool to stay amongst them, like so many of her kind before. She had stayed to protect them, to ward away the lesser demons, who would flee as soon as they felt her presence. The bigger ones, well they had learned their mistakes one and all.

But it had all been for naught. Within a week, this place would be swarmed with them, eager to feed upon the ground that had been denied them, just like every town. But she had been _careful_ she had never done anything to bring suspicion upon her, had done everything in her power to make sure that she and this village would survive, and it had all been for naught.

**juujika ni dakare sora aogu**

**Penitenziagite! Penitenziagite!**

**inori no koe nado kakikesare**

**Opus transit in otium**

**kono ai sae majutsu to yobu no nara**

**Nunc cunta rerum debita**

**nikushimi no honoo wo hanatsu ga ii**

**Exorbitant a semita**

_Held by the cross, I look up at the sky_

_Repent! Repent!_

_Erase the voices of prayer_

_Dedication reduced to nothing_

_If you call this love black magic_

_Now, everything is_

_then light the flames of hatred_

_She's lost her way_

It was then an idea had struck her, a way to see that all her efforts hadn't been for naught. But wouldn't do it out of the good of her heart, no these two faced traitors did not deserve such gifts. Her eyes, now brimming with tears, had darted to immediate right, where stood the one whom she loved from the bottom of her heart. She had spoken to him, her vocie reaching him unnaturally clear over the chanting of the crowd. She spoken to him, and delivered upon him her ultimatum. She had let anger and desperation infuse her voice, so that there could be no mistake in the outcome. 'If you call this love black magic,' she had said, 'then light these flames of hatred'.

The desperation she had felt was clear to all and it had only served to egg the crowd on more. But that had been the point, for now all the power had been given to them. Her cry hadn't been a desperate plea to save her own life, for it would be to easy to on its own. No, the plea had been to save her love, to keep the feelings she had for this village and its people within her, and it all fell upon her love to decide the outcome. If he broke down, and began to try and save her, then she would stay, and she would let the flames consume her. She knew that the fire would be lit anyway, for the crowd would merely dismiss him as being possessed by her magic and he would be free one she was nothing but ashes.

But that was the idea, because if he tried to save her, then he truly loved her, and this village would earn its protection. She would die, but her spirit, strong and powerful from gorging off of her enemies' power, would live on. It would stay within this town, protecting it from harm. Weather they called it a holy ghost or a cursed she cared not, for she would still be there to protect them.

But instead of taking his dagger and attempting to free her, an effort that she knew would have been useless, he had merely gathered her hair. Her long, flowing locks that many had complimented her on, were her pride and joy. And he had asked her to never cut it, for it would mean the breaking of their vow.

But he had gathered that hair that he had so loved behind her head, clenched in a bundle at the base of her neck, and swept his dagger through it.

**kono akaku moeyuru hi no you na**

**Penitenziagite! Penitenziagite!**

**chi no namida no wake wo wasureru na**

**La mortz est super nos!**

_Like this red, burning flame_

_Repent! Repent!_

_Don't forget the reason for your bitter tears_

_Death is weighing upon us!_

For a few, brief seconds, she had just hung there, to shocked to anything. Then, the anger and sorrow had claimed her, their roots reaching to the deepest parts of her soul and snuffing out all but the faintest traces of love, upon which they fed. She had drawn on the aether, formed it to her, and taken to the air, her from shifting to that of a crow as she rose.

She banged her fist in the dirt, her sorrow and pain rising within her once more. To her, it was the final proof that there is no 'God', and that there is no 'Devil'. All there is is power, those who wield it, and those who don't. In that moment, she swore vengeance, they had called her a monster, one and all, condemning her for something they could not understand. And if they thought her a monster, then she would be a monster of their own making, a self-fulfilling prophecy that would destroy them one and all.

And so she began to laugh. It was the laugh of a broken soul, of a being whose mind had been shattered in the sorrow of betrayal. It was this laugh of one who would bring destruction upon the world.


End file.
